why supporting an initiative like „runmysilkroad.com“?

Here my article about the 8th UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism.

A question, often asked: „Why international organizations like the UNWTO or the countries support an initiative like runmysilkroad.com?

The answer is complex but i try to give you some information so you will be able to understand the benefit for both sides…

Well, first of all, an initiative must be well planned and thought out. Unfortunately, many do not do this work. With me it went with its own family logo (the Panda before the oak leaves), the search and persuasion for a patron, the medial reasoning and the structure of media contacts like AFP, dpa and as in my case „nihao Germany“, the medical and psychological preparation, the conception of the Kultur-Brücken-Tage as well as a well thought-out process organization.

Much can go wrong, but it must be planned in principle.

If that’s the case, I can focus on 3-5 key points why it’s worth supporting an initiative like runmysilkroad.com:

Tourism managers want sustainable tourism. They want to help more mass tourism in new destinations. At the same time, the goal is to give other parts of the population the opportunity to participate in the tourism growth market. Ultimately, this should also be an important element in the fight against poverty.And now I’m getting into it. I ran in my cultural marathon 12000 km along a route that includes the tourist strongholds as in China Xi’an, but not only. I could also show beautiful new areas that are not yet known or noticed by the providers. Such as Pingliang. Breathtakingly beautiful and yet not so well known.

The countries want to show their culture. With pride, others should see what the population can do, what makes them special and how people really are. Especially to the countries I have run through, there are more negative prejudices than positive ones. Much is based on old situations like in Uzbekistan. The fact that both the political landscape and the climate in tourism has changed very positively there is hardly anyone here. And as a jibe to the press: positive news is more difficult to sell than negative.Due to my format with the Kultur-Brücken-Tage and daily in nihao Germany, but also through other media accompaniment, I was able to show a new reality. THe people were involved and there was a „real“ story and no, as we say today „fake news“

Last but not least, the countries in my case want to be part of the Silk Road. With the destination country of China and the special charm of a seemingly impossible undertaking like mine, the spirit of the Silk Road will be revived. Therefore, a sentence from me also reap regular applause:“The Silk Road is you, it belongs to us and not to anyone or even a country.“Combined with running this was a way to involve many. Only in running you can currently achieve this width. A look at the map shows that I was present in over 120 countries. Certainly much more in some countries than in others. But it is important for those countries that have supported me to spread the issue of Silk Road as widely and widely as possible.

Everyone could learn and learn from the other countries. The trailer on which our running track was so large was a wonderful medium dar. Whatever we met, it was always the search for: „Where is my home, look – here I come from …“ then it was about : „And you, where are you from?“ and soon there was talk about what was lying in between, exchanging ideas and often forging plans to visit one country or the other city on one’s own.

In short, with my project, I have been able to offer many facets and solutions to the interests of the tourism and sports industry and to make people travel to new areas.

and now that the project is over and I can say overjoyed: „I have more than fulfilled my lifelong dream“ I am glad to be invited to report on the experiences, to give help or just to motivate and inspire.

Like the 8th UNWTO International Meeting on Silk Road Tourism, where you can read in my report how things are going, what’s going on and who’s participating.